From which where i came
by ravenria
Summary: It was the eve of Erin Zora Attha's 15th birthday, and after years of not knowing, she decides to confront her mother of her father's identity, but instead she finds something else, and decides to run away and seek her father.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own GSD, but I do own Erin, Riven, and Aetos.

It was the eve of Erin's 15th birthday. That night, Orb's palace was dressed in its finest, and so was everyone all except the celebrator herself. She had a frown on her face as her maids dressed her up in a grand golden ball gown, which complemented her eyes, back dropped by her long dark hair. Anyone would have said that her beauty surpasses any other. But the sadness in her look was much too prevailing, so much that her uncle, upon seeing her to escort to the ballroom, could not help but stall the party to ask his niece what has wronged her.

"Will my father be here?" she asked him in firm voice. Kira was somewhat surprised with her question, and felt that it was not his place to answer.

"I don't know, why don't you ask your mother?" he replied to the young girl.

"Like she'd tell me…"

"Have you tried?"

"No, but you know how mom is with that topic. Come on Uncle, you know how she banned the press from releasing anything about my father."

"That's the press, not you." Erin somehow felt that this conversation will not lead to anything good, so she put on a fake smile to satisfy her uncle and let him escort her to the ballroom.

It was full room, everyone who was anyone was there, and be they from Orb, from earth or from outer space. And there at the foot of the stairs waiting, was her mother- Lady Cagalli Eula Attha, Queen of the United Emirates of Orb, and beside her was her aunt Lacus Clyne-Yamato, the former Chairman of the PLANTS. It was awkward at first, the way that the leaders of ORB and the PLANTS were all in one family, but the public got used to it, though not the same can be said about certain politicians.

Erin was presented to the people by her mother with a speech, saying:

"There is a reason in our family why we celebrate our coming of age at fifteen. If every one of you might recall, I ran away for sometime when I was fifteen. And to tell you all the truth, I wasn't off in boarding school as everyone assumed I was. I almost died actually when I was fifteen." The crowd fell silent for a while, and Erin was certainly surprised with her mother's revelation and began to listen more intently, upon seeing her uncle's reaction. "I was in Heliopolis the day it fell. But that day was one I'd never forget, not because I almost died, but because life started for me on that day. For one, I met my brother, Kira in fact saved my life while mistaking me for a boy," everyone laughed upon recalling how brash Cagalli was in her day, "And then after that, I came to be with a rebel group and experienced battle first hand. I met and said good-bye to a lot of people during that time of war. But the most important thing that happened that year was that behind all the fighting, all the conflict, and all the death, I found love." Cagalli paused for a while, to see the look on Erin face, it was not a look of surprise, but instead was look of longing; if she hadn't been that cruel, Cagalli would have said more about him, but she knew she couldn't. "And it was that love that gave me Erin. I named you Zora, after the dawn that I loved so much. That day that the first war ended, it was the first thing your father and I saw- the dawn. Now that you are in this age, which seems to have so much meaning for us all, I hope that you would find everything that you will need to be who you want to be. So happy birthday my daughter."

Erin was certainly touched by her mother's speech, but could not help but long for more information about her father. That was all that she could think about the whole time, she was too distracted; it was not long before she found herself escaping to the gardens for a while.

"Why are you here?" a man's voiced asked from behind one of the pillars of the gazebo.

"I don't know. And who are you mister?"

"Nobody" Erin didn't really appreciate the man's reply and turned to see who she was talking to, ready to punch him in the face, but then she saw a ZAFT soldier and thought otherwise, lest she wanted to start a war.

"Who are you?" she asked instead.

"Hn, I guess it'd be rude to refuse a second time" he stepped out into the light and revealed himself to be the Chairman, Athrun Zala. "My name is Athrun Zala, it is a pleasure to finally meet you princess."

"Chairman Zala!" Erin gasped, "I'm sorry for my actions earlier, but still sir what are you doing here outside?"

"Well, I won't answer that question until you answer why you are here out side."

"Haha, very funny sir." Athrun could not help but laugh at her, making Erin turn all red in anger.

"You and your mother are so alike." He commented as he looked at her.

"Yeah, so they say." But then Erin realized something, "Chairman Zala, weren't you with my mother and my uncle during the first war?"

"Yes I was, actually in both wars."

"Can I ask you something then?"

"I'll try to answer then," Athrun felt a bit uneasy with this and prayed for the person he should be meeting to appear soon.

"During her speech, my mother said she was with my father on that ship, so could you…" but before she could finish, her mother's voice interrupted.

"Erin," she said, "why are you here outside?"

"Don't worry about it Cagalli, she was just getting a bit of fresh air." Athrun answered in her stead.

"I see, but you should return inside now, your dances are about to begin."

"Yes, mother I shall." And Erin went inside to find her Uncle waiting for her at the steps and danced with her the moment they entered the floor, leaving Cagalli and Athrun alone.

"Why are you here?" Cagalli asked him.

"Was it not you who invited me?" he replied, as he took her arm as they went for a walk.

"I didn't expect you to actually come."

"There are some habits you couldn't get out of your system can you?" Athrun said, changing their topic.

"Very funny, is that how you knew I'd be at the gardens?"

"I will not deny it."

"I see, so how are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own GSD, but I do own Erin, Riven and Aetos

As dictated by tradition, Erin has to dance with 15 men on her presentation. First of course was the man closest to her father, Kira Yamato, and then Gen. La Flagga, and then Maj. Kisaka, and the list went on, and then the 14th person she was asked to dance with was a person she met for the first time; he was a coordinator, a lieutenant from ZAFT who was with the chairman's escorts.

"You must be wondering who I am," the man said, Erin chose not to reply. "Don't worry I am not some pompous aristocrat they're trying to marry you off to."

"Who are you then?" she finally replied with a mighty tone.

"My name is Riven Crito."

"And why are you dancing with me right now?"

"To tell you frankly, I do not know. My uncle simply pulled me away for a second and then made me dance with you."

"And who might this uncle be?" Erin had a suspicion that it was some politician who wanted a little connection.

"Uncle Kira, your mother's brother" His answer surprised Erin, why would Kira ask this person to dance with her.

"I wonder why." Erin whispered as they bowed to each other before Riven took leave.

But then, the lights suddenly went out. Cagalli and Athrun noticed this immediately and rushed back to the ballroom to see if everyone was all right. The room fell into panic as sounds of broken glass suddenly filled the air. After 10 seconds, the power returned, only to find a message on the floor saying: "Happy Birthday, you Grandchild of a monster blue earth". Kira immediately dispersed the guards and tightened the security of the whole compound. Erin was left in distraught and almost fainted, but was caught by Riven who rushed back to her when the lights went out.

Soldiers, to ensure the people's safety, escorted all the guests back to their houses. While the royal family of orb retreated to their quarters to try and get some rest despite the tragedy that happened that night.

Meanwhile, Erin was lying down on her bed thinking about the message the terrorists had left her. She knew that the blue earth movement was revived upon the birth of the new generation of humans, those who were half natural and half coordinator. It was common knowledge that Orb has been a sympathetic to these people who were being condemned by purist of the two parties; but Erin could not understand why anyone would call her grandfather, Lord Uzumi, a monster, so then she came to the conclusion that the grandfather being referred to was her paternal grandfather.

She rose from her bed, changed her clothes to something more comfortable and made her way to her mother's quarters. Erin could feel it, her heart beating faster and faster as she made her way to confront Cagalli about the message. Upon finally making it to the end of the west wing, she gathered up her courage, lifted her hand, readying to knock on the door, when voices stopped her.

"She can't find out…" Erin heard her mother saying as she cried. "She doesn't need this right now…"

Erin didn't know what to do, not only was it the first that she heard her mother crying, but it was also the shock of finding out the darkness in her identity. Instead of entering the chambers, Erin ran…

She ran as fast as she could, she ran and ran until she no longer knew where she was.

"Stop that," a voice said. "You know, it's exactly 12:59 right now."

"So what, why should I care, my birthday's ruined anyway."

"Well, I'm just saying, it's still not our birthday, not for another 60 seconds at least so stop crying already."

Erin looked up to see to whom she was talking to, and found the golden haired man who was dancing with her that night.

"It's your birthday too tonight?" she asked him, shifting into a lighter mood.

"Uhuh, that's why I'm a bit pissed off that my father made me come here."

"Well at least you know your father."

"I don't really think that matters, cause, I never knew my mother."

"Why? What happened to her?"

"She had to leave when I was just a baby. My father rarely talks about her so that pretty all that I know."

"At least you know that she existed." Erin turned away for a while, before releasing a sigh and continued, "I don't even know if I have a father."

"Don't think that," Riven said to her as he looked into Erin's golden eyes, wet with tears, "by the way your mother talked about him just now, I think he's a great man."

"Then why is she ashamed of him?"

"Ashamed of him?" Riven asked in confusion.

"Yes, ashamed of him. Just know I was about to enter my mother's room when I heard saying things like that."

"Oh, I see." Was all that Riven could say,

Silence fell among them for a while, and then Erin jerked up from her seat and suddenly declared, "I'm running away for a little while."

"What?" Riven replied in disapproval as he caught her by the hand, "You can't do that."

"Try and stop me then!" and they began a staring contest, which Riven obviously lost. He didn't have the same spirit she did, but he did have a sense of duty, "Fine then, you can go, but I'm going with you!"

"Do as you please then, but don't get in my way."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny, but I do own Erin, Riven and Aetos and Llana as well.

A/N: Sorry for the long chapter, but it can't be helped… have fun…

When the clock struck half past 1:00, Erin prowled into the night and made her way to the basement fortress, temporarily abandoned for the celebrations. Erin searched for a vehicle she can use to escape and found an old Earth Forces Sky Grasper newly restored in the hanger. But just when Erin was about to start the engines the lights in the hanger turned on. Erin's heart began to beat fast, she thought she was going to get caught by the palace guards, but then again when her eyes refocused she saw Riven standing beside another Zaft soldier.

"I knew you'd try to get away without me," said Riven instead of a hello.

"Haha very funny," Erin replied with a scoff, "And by the way, you two aren't supposed to be here, this is an official Morganroete base, Zaft soldiers can't enter this place."

"Really?" was Riven's only answer, starting another starting contest with Erin.

"Fine! You got me already, but who's he?"

"This, Erin, is Aetos Cromwell" Riven replied to Erin demanding question. Erin turned her focus to the other soldier. She couldn't help but blush once her eyes fell on Aetos sharp stare, once she realized it was her she was looking at. He was tall, with the common coordinator built, but there was something in his gray eyes that flashed at her.

"Why don't you come down from there princess?" Aetos shouted at her as he reached out his hand to guide her down the aircraft, which Erin of course, took very demurely.

"Thank you," was all she managed to say, and then she turned back to Riven, "So you're not stopping me right?"

"Nope, for the nth time, nope. And I am also saying that we can get away more silently by using another aircraft, one that's not as conspicuous as the legendary sky grasper your mother used in the war."

"You mean this one?" Erin asked very much bewildered, "But I thought that crashed in an island near Gibraltar?"

"Yes it did, princess," Aetos answered her, seeing that Riven was not in the loop on this one assignment he had. "The chairman had had it collected and restored; I came to deliver it just now, when I came across my old friend here who apparently took down the people who were supposed to receive it from me."

"Oh, I see."

Once the three stopped arguing, they snuck out of the palace using an underground route that Erin found when she was a young girl. They made their way to the nearby beach where they got a small passenger plane. As Riven had suggested, it would be a lot easier to leave the country if they'll leave the palace first.

"So where do you want to go first princess?" Aetos asked since he was flying the plane.

"To the Arabian Desert, there's a little town there which I'd like to visit." Erin replied immediately, as she fiddled with her laptop.

"To the east then princess."

After a few minutes of silence between them, Erin felt uncomfortable. Upon noticing that Riven was nowhere to be found, Erin felt that it'd be better if she'd go in and look for him, in the very small plane.

"Hey Riven," she greeted once she found him seating alone in the back row.

"What? Do you need anything?" was his immediate reply, but he did not even turn to face her.

"Well for starters, I'd like to say thank you. I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with and well you're doing great with me; I just don't know why."

"Are you thanking me, or are you interrogating me?" Riven asked when he finally turned and faced her.

"Both actually."

"Just don't ask okay. Leave me alone for a while, I'm not in the mood for your mood swings." And with that he shoved her off and with that she stormed back into the cockpit and into her seat.

"He dismissed you like a jerk didn't he?" were Aetos' first words to her.

"Yeah he did." She replied a bit more calmly.

"Don't take it personally. Riven gets these mood swings every now and then, usually when he's fighting with his father."

"And he tells me I have swings!" Erin scoffed at Riven weirdness making Aetos laugh a bit at her, "Why? What's so funny?"

"I don't know, but I just get this weird feeling that Riven's about to do something he'll regret."

A few more hours later, they all arrived in a village in the desert. There they hid their plane, got some new clothes, and went out to go to Tasel to seek out a man named Kisaka.

"Out of pure curiosity," Aetos began and waited for Erin's attention and then continued, "who's this guy were going to?"

"He's Adm. Leondonil Kisaka, he was for the longest time my mother's body guard, so if she did anything he'd know about it more or less."

When they found Kisaka's place, they knocked on the door and was received by him with two respectful bows and a salute to Aetos. Once they were inside the sitting area, and were served tea by Kisaka's daughter, they began their conversation.

"Princess, I can't help but feel that your visit would have something to do with the identity of your father." Kisaka took Erin by surprise; she did not expect him to be so direct.

"Uhm… yeah. I do want to know who he is; so can you tell me or not?"

"I can't," Kisaka replied but continued immediately when he saw that outrage was about to surface in Erin's face. He turned to Riven for a while whom he saw kept a stoic face in the midst of it all. "As you may have read, princess, I was already retired around the time that you were born; and was therefore no longer privy to your mother's personal life."

"I see then. But can't you at least give me a name? Any name that may lead me somewhere." Erin pleaded.

Kisaka remained silently for a while and kept his stare at the symbol of Haomeiah.

"There was one man, princess, I could think of," he paused to give Riven a reassuring look before continuing, "during the war, I remember your mother meeting someone and she gave him her Haomeiah amulet, but that is all that I can tell you."

"Thank you." Was all that Erin could manage to say, she was relieved that the visit wasn't at all useless after all.

After saying good-bye to Kisaka, the trio left and went to a small bar in the center of town to rest a while before going back to the plane.

"So where do you plan on going next princess?" Aetos inquired, seeing as he was the one who'd fly them there, he wanted to know how much fuel they'll need.

"I don't know really," it finally sunk into her how inconclusive Kisaka's statements were. "Damn! He didn't even say what kind of soldier he was."

"Look at it this way Erin," Riven finally broke his silence, "you've got two clues already. One, he was in with the Three-Ship- Alliance, and two, he'd have an amulet, which isn't exactly a cool fashion accessory is it."

"Yeah, you're right about that. So now I have to search for all the photographs available." Erin was back in with her usual energy and was about to rush out of the tavern when something caught Aetos' attention.

"Hey guys look at that picture." And they saw a photograph of a bunch of freedom fighters hanging on the wall. "Excuse me sir, but could you please tell us something about that photograph," Aetos inquired to the bar tender while the other two followed suit.

"Why of course young man!" replied the old bartender with much excitement, "I'd be more than glad to brag about the Desert Dawn."

"Dawn?"

"Yes, the Desert Dawn," repeated the old man, "I'd be so proud to tell you that in this picture," he continued as he removed it from its place to point to the young teenager sitting on the hood of the jeep, "is the Goddess of victory herself, the great Lady Cagalli Eula Attha of Orb."

" Lady Cagalli?" Erin replied quite startled. She never expected that she'd meet the people her mother fought with in the resistance.

"Yup, Lady Cagalli. She surely had us all fooled. We didn't know that our feisty goddess was in fact a princess! Oh yeah, she fought many battles with us. She even helped bring down the desert tiger, Andrew Waltdfeld.; but of course we couldn't have done it with the Archangel and the Strike's help."

"Wow, you really know Lady Cagalli." Said Riven looking amused, "And Andy Waltdfeld too huh."

"Oh yes m'boy, I did. Since you know I was part of that resistance, I'm pretty lucky to survive long enough yah know."

"Mister," Erin began, "while Lady Cagalli was here, did she have a red amulet with her or did she give it to someone by any chance?"

"Oh you mean her Haomeiah amulet," after an approving nod, "She'd never let that thing leave her neck, it was given to her by her father I believe."

"Oh, thanks."

"By the way, you're eyes young man," said the bartender as he pointed to Riven.

"What about them?" Riven replied a bit defensively.

"They burn like hers."

"Do they. Really?" he replied as he pretended to humor the man.

By the time they realized it, it was already nightfall so the three of them decided to stay in Tasel till morning.

That night, Riven had one of his moods again and left the two alone. Aetos and Erin decided to do a bit of sight seeing while they were there and rented some horses, since they were more manageable than camels, and did a bit of riding under the desert sky.

"It never once came across my mind that I'd be here riding in the desert." Aetos said out of the blue.

"Why is that?"

"I just never thought I'd really leave outer space that's all, but then here I am being dragged along by Riven to the ends of the earth."

"How long have you two been close?" Erin inquired.

"Long enough to know a few things about him."

"Nice answer," Erin couldn't help but be annoyed with the ambiguity of Aetos' answer, "So can you tell me why he has so many issues with his father?"

"Well, let's just say it's the same as why you have so many issues with your mother."

"Uhuh," Erin gave him another death glare, which amused Aetos rather than frighten him. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Tell me anything, how about your whole name for starters."

"Okay, My name is Aetos Joule- Cromwell."

"I knew there'd be something in between, so how are you related to Yzak Joule?"

"He's a far off relation, same natural parentage that's all."

"What else?"

"What else? Hmm… let's see, I beat Riven for the top rank when we graduated from the academy. And well, I'm also Llana Joule's cousin."

"Llana who?"

"I guess Riven hasn't mentioned her to you yet. Llana's Riven's girlfriend, she's also in the forces like us, but is assigned in Gibraltar."

"I see." Erin couldn't really tell, but Aetos saw the shock in her face, which gave him a very bad feeling.

Upon returning to their inn, Erin and Aetos parted in the hallway, and he made his way to his and Riven's room, where he found his best friend in the foulest of moods.

"If I were you, I wouldn't lead her on," was his 'hello'.

"I'm not doing anything; and speak for yourself, you haven't even told her you had a girlfriend already."

"What does Llana have to with this?" Aetos could see it, Riven was too angry for his own good.

"Calm down Riven! What's wrong with you anyway? Why are you acting so strangely?"

"What do you mean by strange?"

"Oh, I saw everything there back at the admirals house. You are hiding something." The two were already at arms length from each other and were ready to fight when Riven caved, saying:

"Yeah, I am hiding something. But after I tell you this, it'd be imperative that you keep away from Erin."

"How dark is this secret?"


End file.
